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"Third attempt" is the lucky charm for UPSC aspirants"!!??
(The Print)
1. The Union Public Service Commission’s Civil Services Exam is India’s toughest recruitment test for IAS, IPS, IFS and other Group A services. ∼11-13 lakh people apply each year, ∼5-6 lakh appear for Prelims, ∼13,000 qualify for Mains, ∼2,500 reach the interview, and ∼700-1,000 finally get selected. Success rate is <0.1%.
2. What ThePrint found from UPSC Annual Report 2023-24:
i. First-timers dominate but rarely clear: 48.2% of candidates in CSE 2022 were first-timers, but only 6.2% of them got selected. In 2018, 54.2% were first-timers with 7.9% success.
ii. Third & fourth attempts are the “sweet spot”
- 2022: 12.6% cleared in 2nd attempt, 21.9% in 3rd, 22.0% in 4th
- From 2018-2022, third attempt success stayed between 19.7% to 24%
3. Why this matters -
The pattern shows CSE “increasingly favours candidates who can afford years of preparation and repeated attempts”. Clearing it often requires 2-3 years of full-time prep, which may be a disadvantage to those who can’t afford coaching or long gaps without income.
4. Related reform context:
Multiple committees over decades, including the Kothari Committee in 1976, have recommended reducing attempts and upper age limit. The idea was to prevent the exam from becoming an endurance test for only those with financial backing.
5. Other useful context from UPSC data:
Scale: 11.35 lakh applied in 2022; 5.73 lakh appeared for Prelims. 2023 saw ∼13 lakh applicants.
Dropout: Over 50% of registered candidates don’t even appear for Prelims.
Background: Engineers made up 53.1% of selections in 2023-24, down from 62.7% in 2019. Humanities grads rose to 29%.
Bottom line: ThePrint uses UPSC’s own data to show that while nearly half the aspirants are first-timers, the odds jump significantly by the 3rd/4th attempt.
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